Shola Ameobi is heading to Detroit, where he will be fitted with a handmade facial mask which could help the Newcastle United striker return by the end of the month.

After undergoing surgery on a fractured cheekbone this week, Ameobi would normally be expected to spend around two months on the sidelines but the manager is hoping to dramatically truncate that period.

"We've got good news on Shola," said Alan Pardew. "We're sending him to America; there's a basketball guy who specialises in protective masks for American NBA players. He's the only guy in the world who does that kind of thing and we're going to use him to protect Shola's cheekbone, so Shola could be back in two or three weeks."

The expert in question is Jeremy Murray who, working from his Detroit studio, has fitted more than 500 masks for NBA players suffering from damaged cheekbones and eye sockets. "Shola's sending out the signals that he'll play with it if he's given the guarantee that it will protect him and I think it will," said Pardew. "The guy designs the mask to reflect the injury.

"I'd say the NBA is more physical than the Premier League when it comes to cheekbone and eye socket injuries; you've got arms everywhere and rebounds and stuff, so if someone in the NBA, a 6ft 8in giant, is wearing one of those masks, I think I'd feel confident wearing it in a football match.

"Shola's is a nasty injury and if he doesn't feel confident going into challenges then there's no point, so we've got to get him out to America, get it made and get him comfortable with it."

Pardew has completed the signing of Shefki Kuqi on a short-term deal until the end of the season. The much travelled 34-year-old Finnish striker had been a free agent after being released by Swansea last month and joins Ameobi, Leon Best, Peter Lovenkrands and Nile Ranger in Newcastle's attacking department.

Sceptics are already talking sarcastically of the club's "Kuqi coup" but Pardew, who sold Andy Carroll to Liverpool for £35m last month, hopes the centre-forward will astound detractors. "Shefki's honest, he's a gentleman, he's someone I don't think too many players here are going to have complaints about," he said. "He's a big guy who knows how to handle himself. I knew him coming into the dressing room wouldn't be a problem.

"We paid huge sums of money for Peter [Lovenkrands] and [Leon] Besty so Shefki's never going to challenge them unless he rises to the occasion, comes on the pitch and attacks it. I've just got a sneaky feeling he might just do that – he's got that sort of character.

"I've said to him, let's be honest, there's probably nothing at the end of the season for you, we just want your personality and your playing ability to see us through to May, and he's absolutely fine with that."